12-27-2019, 02:36 AM
LAWRENCE, Kan. Aaron Gordon Jersey . -- There were moments of frustration for Kansas coach Bill Self, moments where hed angrily call a timeout or attend a post-game news conference and glumly bemoan another uneven performance. There never was a moment where he lost faith in his team. Now, after enduring the nations most brutal non-conference schedule, the sixth-ranked Jayhawks are proving to be exactly what the pundits thought theyd be: The Big 12s premier team, one that already has a substantial lead in the conference as the race nears its midway point. "We have grown, but were just now to the middle of the season. Thats whats so strange," Self said. "The big thing is that were playing with more energy and were starting to understand how were going to score -- not just running an offence to run an offence. Were not a tough team by any stretch, but are playing tougher than we did earlier in the season." Thats certainly been evident in the results. After a loss to fifth-ranked San Diego State ended the Jayhawks 68-game non-conference winning streak at Allen Fieldhouse, Kansas has ripped off seven straight wins through arguably the toughest part of its league schedule. It began with a win at No. 23 Oklahoma, and continued with wins over four straight teams that were ranked in the Top 25 -- Kansas State, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Baylor. After a blowout win at TCU, the Jayhawks beat the No. 16 Cyclones for a second time on Wednesday night. Now, theyll head to No. 25 Texas with essentially a two-game lead in the Big 12. You catch the game on TSN2 on Saturday at 12am et/9pm pt. "Im not surprised at all," junior guard Naadir Tharpe said. "I knew it was going to be a matter of time until everybody just let water run off their back and start going out there and just playing. That is what I feel like dudes are doing right now." The most important of them may be Andrew Wiggins, the highly touted freshman. After fits and starts to begin his college career, the 6-foot-8 swingman and projected lottery pick in the June draft has gone on a tear. Wiggins scored a career-high 27 points in the win over the Horned Frogs, and then bested it with 29 points against the Cyclones earlier this week. Hes averaging more than 24 points over his past three games. "I would say I feel more comfortable on the court," Wiggins said this week. "A lot of things are slowing down for me and my teammates are looking for me." Hes also starting to create his own shot, something that he was reticent to do early in the season, prompting Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg to say hes "oozing with confidence. "Thats scary," Hoiberg said. "With that athleticism, that length and that speed, the kids got it all. When hes knocking down shots, not too many better." There arent many teams better than the Jayhawks right now. Since the start of league play, the nine-time defending champions are putting up a Big 12-leading 84 points per game. Theyre just a half-point out of second place in scoring defence, and their scoring margin of 12 points per game is seven better than second-place Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks (16-4, 7-0 Big 12) also lead the league in field-goal and 3-point percentage, rebounding defence and margin, blocked shots, assists and, well, you get the idea. "They have a special group," TCU coach Trent Johnson said. "At every position, they have somebody who can score. They can attack you, so you really have to be on your toes." After the Jayhawks, Texas may be the next hottest team in the Big 12 heading into Saturdays game. The Longhorns (16-4, 5-2) have rattled off five straight wins, the last three coming against ranked teams in Iowa State, Kansas State and Baylor. The Jayhawks will represent the first time in school history that Texas will have played four consecutive Top 25 opponents. "Theyre young. Theyre not quite as young as we are, but theyre young and fast, probably as fast as any team well play," Self said. "Theyre obviously playing their tails off." Tracy McGrady Jersey .Steamboat Ski Resort contends Steamboat Springs, Colorado has long been known as Ski Town, U.S.A., and claims in a new lawsuit that Salt Lake tourism officials violated their trademark when they rolled out the Ski City marketing campaign last month. Horace Grant Jersey . Still, Encarnacion felt a sense of relief. He felt a pop just before crumpling to the ground after running out a groundball in the first inning of Saturdays game. It could have been worse. “Its going to take maybe two weeks,” said Encarnacion. “It depends how Im going to be and how Im going to be day after day, feeling better or not. https://www.cheapmagiconline.com/858i-mi...magic.html . Right-hander Todd Redmond took the loss. Jose Bautista hit his second home run of the spring. Here are a handful of tidbits from around camp: Hutchison impressive The Blue Jays are being cautious when talking about their young arms but internally, excitement is building over the way Drew Hutchison is looking and performing this spring.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Philadelphia Flyers hope to enter the Christmas break on a positive note when they aim for a third straight win in Tuesdays road battle against the Minnesota Wild. The Flyers have gained a point in eight of their last nine games, posting a 5-1-3 record during that stretch. Philadelphia also has kicked off a season- long eight-game road trip with two straight wins despite entering the swing with a 3-9-3 away record. The Flyers havent won three in a row since Nov. 4-8. Philadelphia ambushed the Toronto Maple Leafs to begin the trek on Saturday, posting a 7-4 win at Air Canada Centre. The Flyers were able to save some offense for Sundays game in Winnipeg, as they rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory against the Jets. The Flyers trailed 3-1 heading into the third period on Sunday, but finished the contest with three unanswered goals. Vincent Lecavalier notched two goals in the third period, tying the contest at 3-3 with 3:14 left in regulation before Jakub Voracek won the game just 10 seconds into overtime. Just seconds after the opening faceoff of OT, Claude Giroux pressured Dustin Byfuglien on the forecheck and Voracek was there to take the loose puck and emerge from behind the net to beat Ondrej Pavelec with a quick wrister. It was the second goal of the night for Voracek, who is leading the NHL with 44 points on 14 goals and 30 assists. The 25-year-old Czech has three goals and four assists over the last three games and on Monday was named the NHLs Second Star for the week ending Dec. 21. The Flyers comeback made a winner of Rob Zepp, who at 33 years of age became the oldest NHL netminder to win his first career start since 41-year-old Hugh Lehman in 1926. Zepp stopped 25-of-28 shots in his NHL debut. I thought in the third we really dug in and started to compete, Flyers head coach Craig Berube said. I thought (Zepp) really handled himself well. With No. 1 netminder Steve Mason out with a back injury, either Ray Emery or Zepp could start tonight for the Flyers. Custom Orlando Magic Jerseys. Emery is 4-2-1 with a 2.39 goals against average in seven career games against the Wild. While the Flyers hope to match their longest winning streak of the season tonight, Minnesota is aiming to avoid equaling its longest skid of 2014-15. The Wild lost four straight in regulation from Nov. 4-11, but they have earned points twice on their current 0-1-2 slide. Mike Yeos club has dropped two straight in overtime and the Wild had to rally for Saturdays 6-5 home loss against Nashville. Minnesota trailed 5-3 after Roman Josi scored on the man advantage for Nashville at 9:05 of the third period, but Zach Parise answered just 1:41 later with a power-play tally of his own. The score stayed at 5-4 until Thomas Vanek tallied with the goalie pulled in favor of the extra attacker with 47.8 seconds left. However, Mattias Ekholm scored the game-winning goal for Nashville at 1:45 of OT, beating Niklas Backstrom with a wrister from the right circle. The point gained was little consolation for Yeo, who was disappointed in his clubs defensive effort. Its clearly not good enough, Yeo said. You score five goals it should be automatic. Parise finished with two goals and an assist for the Wild, who were outshot 44-27 in the game. Vanek and Marco Scandella each tallied a goal and a helper and Jason Zucker also scored for the Wild. Backstrom gave up three goals on 30 shots in relief of Darcy Kuemper, who stopped 11-of-14 shots during the first period. Minnesota fell to 9-3-3 as the home team on Saturday and is playing the third part of a four-game homestand tonight. The Wild will complete the residency Saturday when it opens a home-and-home set against Winnipeg. The Wild earned a 3-2 regulation win in Philadelphia on Nov. 20 and Tuesdays test will complete the season series. Minnesota has taken two of three from the Flyers overall and owns a 3-2-0 mark with a tie in the six all-time encounters in St. Paul. ' ' '